Using the Tarot for Creativity and Empowerment

The Artist’s Way & Tarot: The Crazymakers In Your Life

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After a the craziness of the holidays, we’re back to our Artist’s Way & Tarot series. Hopefully, everybody has had a chance to catch up and is ready to continue forward.

What is a Crazymaker?

We continue our work with a discussion about the Crazymakers in our lives. What might a Crazymaker be you ask? Julia states that a Crazymaker are those people that create storm centers in our lives – the ones who can take over our entire lives. I often think of the Crazymakers as the drama queens and typically, the see the entire world as revolving around them. Julia states that

Everyone around them functions as supporting cast, picking up their cues, their entrances and exits, from the Crazymaker’s (crazy) whims.

Does this sound familiar to you? Do you have any of these Crazymaker drama queens in your life?

Tarot Readers & Crazymakers

If you read Tarot for clients and/or friends, you might very well have encountered these types of people. In the past, I’ve had clients who would call me at least once a week for an emergency reading. Every time they called it was a new dramatic event in their lives and everyone (me included) was expected to stop what they were doing and tend to their issue. These types of people tend to be particularly drawn to Tarot readers and psychics because during a reading, everything can be about them and only them.

Setting Boundaries

In such of situations, it is important to set boundaries. Some examples of boundaries might be:

Only one reading during a three month period

Sticking with established business hours

No last-minute emergency readings

Absolutely no at-whim telephone readings (e.g. “Can you just pull one card to see…)

Refuse to read on the same question over and over again (I had one client who, every week, would ask me: “When will he come back to me?”)

I also had a friend who expected me to do free readings for him constantly (he was definitely a drama boy). I finally set some boundaries and suggested that he book any subsequent readings though my Web site. Remember – you wouldn’t expect a friend who is a doctor to perform surgery for free. Likewise, you should expect to be paid for the work you do. This is your livelihood after all and you deserve to be compensated.

Characteristics of Crazymakers

There are many different types of Crazymakers and being able to identify them is essential, for they can be poison to an artist or to a sensitive. Julia lists several characteristics of such people:

Crazymakers break deals and destroy schedules. They will pop into town and expect you to drop what you are doing and focus solely on them. This kind of person will ignore your designated work times to cater to their needs.

Crazymakers discount your reality. You can tell them that you are on a deadline, that you have to work to do, that you do not want to be bothered after 8:00 p.m. – all to no avail. You might hear something from them such as, “I know you’re busy, but this will only take a second…

Crazymakers spend your time and money. These are the kind of people who cut into your work time or expect free readings (“Would you mind throwing a few cards for me?”). They might expect you to pick up the lunch tab or return your car with no gas in it.

Crazymakers triangulate those they deal with. According to Julia, they set people against each other in order to maintain their own power position. These are the gossipers and the meddlers in your life.

Crazymakers are expert blamers. Nothing is ever their fault.

Crazymakers create dramas – but seldom where they belong. Your issues and goals become trivialized so that you can focus on them. Julia uses the example of “Do you think he/she loves me?” they call you to ask when you are busy trying to pass the bar exam or get your husband home from the hospital.

Crazymakers hate schedules – except their own. ‘Nuff said. This is an opportunity for you to set boundaries.

Crazymakers hate order. Julia states that chaos serves their purposes and they will abruptly invade your creative space to make it their own.

Crazymakers deny that they are crazymakers. That’s always the case, isn’t it? Often, they will try to turn the tables to make you look like you’re at fault.

Why We Put Up With It

We are self-destructive, that’s why. According to Julia, as blocked creatives, we are willing to go to any lengths to remain blocked and find that catering to a Crazymaker is far less threatening than the challenge of facing a creative life on our own.

We might silently agree with a family member who says that Tarot is evil/silly/dumb/a waste of time, etc. and put away our dreams of going professional. It’s a lot safer to keep the cards in the drawer then to put ourselves out in the world.

What’s important here, is that if you are involved with a Crazymaker, you must admit it. You are being used and abused and this person is keeping you from exploring your creative potential. Do not allow anyone else to block your creative flow.

Tarot Task

One card that I associate with setting boundaries is the 7 of Wands. If we look at this card, we can conjecture that the figure in this card is holding off the Crazymakers in his life by setting boundaries thus maintaining the upper hand. In the William Blake Tarot, the keyword for this card is Boldness, suggesting the need to stand up for yourself and finding the courage to resist the naysayers and crazymakers in your life as well as any criticisms or prejudices of your art, whether that be a tarot reader or erotica writer.

Pull the 7 of Wands from your deck and set it in front of you. Now pull out a sheet of paper and list 5 things that you can do to set your own boundaries or otherwise keep the Crazymakers in your life at bay. You might want to draw 3 or more cards for additional insight and advice on how to do this.

If the Crazymaker’s in your life are overwhelming and you might need a gentle reminder to remain on the defensive, pull out the 9 of Wands and keep in somewhere where you will see in regularly. Being conscious of and recognizing these crazy folks is the first step in defending ourselves from them.

What other cards can you think of to represent or help you defend yourself against the Crazymakers in your life?

Artist’s Way Tasks

Last time, you listed 20 things that you enjoy doing that you may not have done in awhile. This week, go back to that list and write down two favorite things that you’ve avoided that could be this week’s goal. Then, set aside a block of time and do it. For instance, go on a “photography walk” during your lunch hour or make a museum date with a friend.

Now go back to your affirmations from Week 1 and read through them, making a note of which ones cause the most reaction within you. Then, choose three affirmations to write 5 times each day in your Morning Pages for a week.

Now we’re going to return to the list of imaginary lives from Week one and we are going to add 5 more lives to it. Julia asks us to check to see if we could be doing bits and pieces of these lives (any of those on the list) in the life we are living now. For instance, if you said you wanted to be a dancer, why not go out dancing? You want to be a scuba diver? Why not go visit an aquarium? Identify and then make a point of adding some of these bits and pieces into your life. Personally, I’m going to spend as much time as possible on my bicycle in the coming days – the answer to my imaginary life as a bicycle racer. I have also set a goal to learn 5 new songs on the harp – the answer to my imaginary life as a professional musician. How about you?

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